


Hope

by querxes



Category: Newsies - All Media Types, Newsies!: the Musical - Fierstein/Menken
Genre: Canon Era, Cross-Posted on Tumblr, Fluff and Angst, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-28
Updated: 2020-06-28
Packaged: 2021-03-04 08:48:42
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,223
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24966985
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/querxes/pseuds/querxes
Summary: “Race,” he called gently, letting the other boy take the time to let his eyes shift to his. “I know it’s a lot to handle right now, with Jack…” he trailed off and swallowed again, pushing back the feeling of hard betrayal in his gut. “It’s not gonna be easy. But you’re not alone. You have Specs, and Albert, and Elmer, and…” he stopped.“And?” Race whispered, blue eyes glinting in the moonlight. God, they were so unbelievably blue.“And me,” Davey whispered back, lowering his eyes.
Relationships: Racetrack Higgins/David Jacobs
Comments: 6
Kudos: 34





	Hope

**Author's Note:**

> This is set to parallel Jack and Katherine's Something To Believe In rooftop scene, so all you need to know is that both scenes are happening at the same time. I posted this one on Tumblr prior to posting it on here, but I really love this one and decided to share it here as well.

Davey was tending to the next group of crying kids when he saw Race slip out the front door of the lodging house. All it took was a knowing glance and a tilt of the head from Specs, who instantly took over Davey’s position when he left to follow the other boy out the doors. He checked two different alleys before he could find the one Race was hiding in. He still stood, but he was pressing his fingers against his eyes like he was trying not to cry.

“Race?” He asked softly, gently. He listened to the other boy sniffle quietly before he moved into the alleyway. He lifted his fingers from his eyes to glance at Davey.

“Dave, Jack’s  _ out,”  _ He said, voice wobbly. Davey swallowed the lump in his throat. “Do y’know how many kids here look up to Jack? How many he brought in from the street, taught to sell papes? Gave a family? An’ then suddenly when it’s convenient,” He snapped his finger, sinking back down the brick wall behind him. “He splits. Just —I don’t wanna believe it. He was our friend, our brother. Hell, he was like a father to some’a these kids. Then he just leaves when it sounded like we were winning? Jesus,  it’s hopeless.”

“I know, Race, I know.” Davey took a deep breath, trying to think of what to say. His words failed him. His own heart ached for these boys, even for himself for thinking he might have finally found a real friend, a best friend after all those years of having none. He sat next to Race with his back against the wall and let his head loll back. 

Race continued. “I don’t think any of us could do it without him. I don’t know how I —Jesus, they’re all gonna be lookin’ up to me next, I have no idea what to do! Dave, you should take over instead, I can’t do this.” Davey glanced at the blond, who hastily wiped away a tear under the gaze.

Davey sighed, shaking his head. “I can’t do that, Race. I haven’t been here long enough for a lot of these kids to even fully trust me. They need someone they trust right now more than anyone. And you were Jack’s second, it’s only natural that you take over.” Unsure of what to do, Davey hovered a hand over Race’s knee, but never set it down. “Race,” he called gently, letting the other boy take the time to let his eyes shift to his. “I know it’s a lot to handle right now, with Jack…” he trailed off and swallowed again, pushing back the feeling of hard betrayal in his gut. “It’s not gonna be easy. But you’re not alone. You have Specs, and Albert, and Elmer, and…” he stopped.

“And?” Race whispered, blue eyes glinting in the moonlight. God, they were so unbelievably blue.

“And me,” Davey whispered back, lowering his eyes. He started to pull his hand back, but Race reached out and laced his fingers in Davey’s. They both froze under the new, almost painfully intimate contact. Their hands stayed intertwined, Davey’s resting on top of Race’s, but the fingers never closed in. Instead, they stayed hesitantly extended like if they were to close in they would never let go of each other.

Slowly, Davey continued. “We can’t give up. Jack may have backed out, but we still have the support of every borough in New York City. That’s huge. We can’t let all of our work be for nothing, we can’t let Crutchie’s sacrifice be for nothing.” Race sniffed.

“It just—I can’t give those kids what they need,” he lamented. 

“Listen, Race, I’ve seen you with the littles. They have stars in their eyes when you give them the slightest bit of attention. They love when you teach them card games and help them tie their shoes and make funny faces at them. Les loves you.  _ They _ love you, Race,” Davey said, hesitating before closing his fingers around Race’s hand. 

“Antonio.” 

“What?” Davey asked.

“My name’s Antonio.”

“Okay, Antonio.”

Race stared at Davey for a long while before closing his hand over Davey’s. Instantaneously, the grip became tighter and more desperate. The tension in the air was stretched far above them, pulling further and further apart and ready to snap at any moment. The pressure was almost painful, but not unwelcome. 

“Davey?” His name was whispered, nearly resembling a prayer. Davey tilted his head up, locking his hazel eyes on the pair of blue ones.

“Yeah, ‘Tonio?” Davey whispered back. The nickname rolled naturally off his tongue, like he had been saying it all his life.

“You’s gonna stay?” Race asked, so quietly that Davey could’ve mistaken it for a breath. He only nodded his head, mouth slightly agape, entranced with the look on Race’s face, with the way his breath rose and fell in his chest. With those blue eyes. They came closer.

Race flitted his eyes to Davey’s hanging jaw and slowly untangled his hand to place it on the side of Davey’s face. Davey’s eyes fluttered shut when Race brushed his thumb over the corner of his lip, gently, carefully, anxiously. “You’re gonna…” Race’s voice drifted off, distracted. He suddenly surged forward and kissed Davey.

The kiss was slow and passionate, with the slightest undertone of excitement bubbling at the surface and pushing upward. Davey clutched at the collar of Race’s shirt and gently held it in his lax grip. The hand on Davey’s cheek trailed up and pushed the cap off of Davey’s head, brushing over the soft hair on the crown of his head. They were still pressed up against the brick wall until Race gripped at Davey’s hair and dragged him forward carefully, gently enough to not hurt the other boy. This freed up their other hands to roam over the empty spaces. Hands traveled across their sides, their fading bruises, their hair. They didn’t let up until Davey eventually pulled back for air, feeling completely breathless. 

“You’re… you’re staying too?” Davey breathed out, resting his forehead to Race’s to quell the dizzying, intoxicated feeling in his head and limbs. He was floating, and Race was his only anchor.

“Yes…” Race brushed his hands over the sides of Davey’s head, closing his eyes in relief. “I ain’t ever givin’ this up.”

“We can make this work,” Davey promised, lifting his head up. They knocked their knobby knees against each other’s and clasped onto each other’s hands again, revelling in the moment. In this lifetime, it was just them and the brick wall that stretched endlessly above them on all sides, keeping them in a protected little box that let them still see the night sky through the very top.

“We can make this work,” Race repeated. Suddenly, there was hope. After a lifetime of being kicked down and lied to and spat on and pushed away, there was something new. There was the promise that old wounds would heal and scars would fade. The sting of betrayal still smarted, but someday it would go away. There was someone to fight for, to  _ trust  _ with this secret, this promise of a future not alone. There was a life beyond the strike, beyond the brick wall that he would make new with Davey.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading!  
> Let me know what you think!  
> Come yell at me on tumblr @thetruthaboutheboy or my main @querxes


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